There are three chains of volcanos in Auvergne, called «les massifs. » There’s Puy de Dôme. Puy (pronounced «pwee ») means volcano and is also pronounced like the French word for well (the kind with water), which is « puit. » This massif is where Volvic water comes from. It actually gushes out of its source and the world is more likely to boycott plastic… Read More
I asked my old friend Shari (old in years, not in age), who is also known as Dusty Earth Mother, to provide my blog with some interesting reading material while I’m away. And she graciously obliged. Shari and I both got engaged in the same month to a man we swore we would never marry, and attended each other’s wedding… Read More
Sir Renaissance has roots in Auvergne. This is one of the reasons we wanted to come, so he could share them with me. (Another reason was the cheap holiday and the kids club, but more on that later). We decided to go visit the town where he spent his summers so we packed the kids in the car and drove… Read More
We are in Auvergne (pronounced « Oh-vair-nye ») at a family vacation resort. We’re going to explore the volcanos. (We had to tell the kids there would be no spewing lava and they weren’t sure whether to be disappointed or relieved). At home we’re going to miss the apple blossoms and the strawberry blossoms, the final blooms of the white tulips and… Read More
I am reading “Mao’s Last Dancer” by Li Cunxin. It was written by a man who defected from Communist China to the States as a young man, and it tells the story of how he was chosen out of poverty to represent one of the three classes of people: soldier, worker and peasant in Madame Mao’s school of dance. The… Read More
This past Wednesday I took my driving test for the third time. If you want to know the horrors, you can read my post « Drive Me to the Looney Bin ,» although you don’t even need to bother with the post; the title says it all. I was crispé, as they say in French (crees-pay) and it means a ball… Read More
